Barcelona test, day 12: Panis tops in old BAR

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, also in a 2000 car, took the second spot, just over half a second behind the lead BAR-Honda. The Brazilian concentrated on Bridgestone tyre development while his team mate, world champ Michael Schumacher, shook down the all new Ferrari F2001 at Fiorano.

Panis concentrated on set-up and electronics work in the BAR002, but the 34-year-old's running was beset by problems. Gearbox selection trouble meant BAR mechanics had to push-start the car every time it left the garage. A brake failure late in the day then caused Panis to career into the barriers at the second-gear SEAT corner.

Panis escaped unhurt and despite destroying the front suspension on both sides of the BAR-Honda, the car will be repaired in time to continue running tomorrow. Team mate Villeneuve, who finished 7th, brought out the red flags in the middle of the morning when the Canadian stopped out on the circuit with fuel pressure problems in the BAR003.

Jordan's Jarno Trulli was third fastest as the Italian continued to work on a suitable set-up for the EJ11. The Jordan was closely followed by the Sauber young guns of Nick Heidfeld in fourth place and Kimi Raikkonen just 0.3s behind in fifth. Raikkonen completed a mammoth 106 laps and continues to run his more experienced team mate close.

Heidfeld caused three red flags, two of which came in the morning when the young German attempted two practice starts at the end of the pitlane, but contrived to stall his Sauber C20 on both occasions. The third came when the 23-year-old stopped in the afternoon with electrical problems.

Newly-signed Arrows driver Enrique Bernoldi finished sixth in the AMT-engined A21. The Brazilian managed to complete 27 laps and avoided any of the electrical problems which plagued the Leafield-based team yesterday.

Juan Pablo Montoya had his first run in the Williams-BMW FW23 and set the eighth fastest time as the Colombian acclimatised to the 2001-spec car.

The Benetton team propped up the time sheets as Giancarlo Fisichella put the first miles on the new B201. The 2001 car was markedly slower than the interim B200B driven both by Fisichella and Jenson Button, who continued a tyre development programme.

The Williams team is leaving tomorrow (Friday) before heading to South Africa's Kyalami circuit next week. Benetton is set to continue with its new car before heading to Venice for its launch next Tuesday.


Olivier Panis, BAR-Honda (2000) B, 1m19.75s, 76 laps
Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari (2000) B, 1m20.28s, 67 laps
Jarno Trulli, Jordan-Honda (2001) B, 1m20.40s, 94 laps
Nick Heidfeld, Sauber-Ferrari (2001) B, 1m20.41s, 66 laps
Kimi Raikkonen, Sauber-Ferrari (2001) B, 1m20.71s, 106 laps
Enrique Bernoldi, Arrows-AMT (2000) B, 1m21.00s, 27 laps
Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda (2001) B, 1m21.15s, 95 laps
Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW (2001) M, 1m21.64s, 20 laps
Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Renault (2000) M, 1m21.67s, 39 laps
Jenson Button, Benetton-Renault (2000) M, 1m22.35s, 28 laps
Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Renault (2001) M, 1m25.57s, 8 laps